Bits and Pieces After the Turkey

SFF author Kristine Kathryn Rusch has been doing a series of blog essays about the Business of Publishing, and this one on bookselling is interesting:

http://kriswrites.com/2010/11/25/the-business-rusch-bookstores-changing-times-part-six/

SF Signal rounded up some authors and others to suggest cool presents for the holiday season:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/11/mind-meld-great-gift-ideas-for-geeks-and-science-fiction-and-fantasy-fans/

Cracked.com relates important information about science and movies:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18862_6-deadly-injuries-you-think-youd-survive-thanks-to-movies.html

Andrew Liptak looks at the obstacles women face in fandom and in general:

http://andrewliptak.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/star-wars-is-for-everyone/

Asked to respond to the news that Warner Brothers, which holds the rights to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and t.v. series, was rebooting the movie with a new young screenwriter, Joss Whedon shows why nobody is as good as him. The Avengers is going to be way fun:

http://ca.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b212644_joss_whedon_reacts_buffy_movie_news_i.html

I unintentionally fibbed — there is another OK Go video I’m putting up. They did one for the Today Show for one of their songs. It’s not their best work but it’s cute:

A Cornucopia of Thanksgiving Videos

Our Gay Civil Rights Videos for the Day

The interviewers ask people on the street whether being gay is a choice, and if so, when did they choose to be straight:

And SFF author Hal Duncan, who is smarter than most of us put together, weighs in with his own take of the It Gets Better campaign. (Warning: loootttsss of cursing in this one, in a charming Scottish accent):

Movie Trailers with High Octane

First, for Thanksgiving, Colin Farrell does the criminal trying to go straight but gets dragged back in bit  in London Boulevard, (it actually looks pretty good):

Next, Jack Black doing his thing in the remake Gulliver’s Travels for Christmas, (the trailer shows far too much of the movie):

Ben Foster used to star in a kids show when he was like twelve, so seeing him in the dark, adult roles he prefers today always makes me smile. And then makes me scared, because he’s pretty good at the dark roles. And in The Mechanic, January 2011, he’s teamed up with British action wunderkind Jonathan Stratham, as an assassin and apprentice out for revenge, so it’s two bullet-shaped heads for the price of one:

In March 2011, L.A. is under attack yet again from aliens, and this time it falls on the Marines to save us in World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles, (this trailer conversely doesn’t show enough material, but everyone seems very frightened):

In April 2011, Jake Gyllenhaal is a soldier who finds himself in a time travel mission dilemma in Source Code. It’s kind of like the Denzel Washington movie, Deja Vu, but on a train, over and over (ironically, Denzel is also doing another train movie):

In June 2011, Ryan Reynolds blasts off as Green Lantern, from the DC Comics superhero character, a film that asks us to buy Blake Lively as his fighter pilot boss:

And lastly, the lauded comic Cowboys & Aliens comes to the screen in July 2011 with Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, and enough steampunk to stuff Trigger:

Pop Culture Funnies

Some things that the Internet made for me:

The Rick Mercer Report debuts some of the new airport security procedures for Canada/U.S.:

There are endless facets to the Star Wars universe, such as the tale of The Injured Stormtrooper:

But it’s also important to be careful in how you talk to your kids about Star Wars, as related in this handy PSA from Asylum:

And in honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 debuting this weekend, here’s Harry Potter & The Rejected Scenes, Part 1:

Update: To further honor Harry Potter, the music video Like It’s Quidditch:

The Last OK Go Video

I’ve come to the end of my weekly dosing of OK Go’s fun music videos. (There’s one very early concert one from their first album, but I think I will leave it lie. ) This one is for one of their hits, Do What You Want, and involves complicated and silly things with wallpaper. It’s another doubleclick one, but it’s the last one! And it’s a lot of fun and a good note to go out on:

 

Interesting Writings for My Kid’s Sick Day

First up, The Black Static blog takes a look at women authors in horror anthologies, as well as their own publication:

http://ttapress.com/942/women-in-horror-anthologies/

Next up, best-selling author John Scalzi had an excellent essay about the carping about the National Novel Writing Month event in November:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/11/11/nanowrimo-and-kvetching/

And Scalzi has also weighed in with several entries about the James Frey book packaging debacle (just search through the blog, there’s like four of them):

http://whatever.scalzi.com

YA author Maureen Johnson also did a great piece on James Frey on her blog:

http://www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com/2010/11/13/the-james-frey-problem/

On a far more positive subject, The Daily Titan did a terrific if too short interview with alums legendary SFF authors Tim Powers, James Blaylock and K.W. Jeter, the guy who brought the term steampunk to the field:

http://www.dailytitan.com/2010/11/10/tim-powers/

And at Haikasoru, they are getting ready to launch their edition of Japanese SF novel The Ouroboros Wave with a reprinted essay about old and new Japanese SF:

http://www.haikasoru.com/the-ouroboros-wave/newold-japanese-sf/

Some baby otters for you

Still swamped, but watching baby otters learn to swim at a small animal park makes me happy. These particular baby otters are from an endangered species whose haibtat has declined.

 

I Am So Swamped, I Could Cry

But I don’t have time, so these guys are going to do it for me. Web entertainer and Amazing Race contestant Kev Jumba did a satiric song borrowing some rifts from Far East Movement’s hit single Rocketeer with some friends and I have to say it’s nice to see young men being more in touch with their feelings. Also, I really do want a keyboard tie. Here’s the excellent Shed a Tear:

 

Cranking it up all the way to Eleven

Having spent a year in Aberdeen, Scotland, this skit from the UK made me laugh: